We got to see a smartphone running Ubuntu up close for the first time today. It looks like it works and all, but this article will most definitely not be a "hands-on" report—we weren't allowed to put our hands on it.

Canonical demonstrated a Galaxy Nexus running Ubuntu's phone interface at the Consumer Electronics Show, but product manager Richard Collins explained that the company isn't quite ready to let us use it. "We're just doing all of the driving for the demos for now simply because we understand how the experience works," Collins told me when I asked if I could test it out. In other words: No touching!

I'm confident I could have figured out how to use this contraption—when it comes down to it, most smartphones aren't that different from each other, and this one behaves a lot like Android and the iPhone. But I like the Canonical guys, and I decided it would be impolite to grab the phone and run for the hills.

We do expect to be getting a hands-on experience within a few weeks, because Canonical says it will be releasing a version that can be installed by anyone on a Nexus. Today, Ars reporter Andrew Cunningham and I settled for the controlled demo and an interview, with Andrew taking pictures. Canonical's wireless Internet on the CES expo floor wasn't working, but we could get a sense of the phone's basic functionality.

Ubuntu phones don't use any hardware buttons or "soft" buttons for navigation. The interface presents the standard grid of icons popularized by the iPhone, eschewing something more radical like the Windows Phone live tiles or Android's widgets. Like most phones, Ubuntu can show notifications on the home screen. You can see a Twitter notification in the image at the top of this story, and here is a shot of the main interface:

There are a few differences from other platforms, largely tied to the fact that swiping from any of the four sides of the screen brings up new options. Swiping from the left brings up a Launcher bar from which applications can be opened, nearly identical to the Launcher in the Ubuntu desktop interface. This Launcher can be opened either from the lock screen or from within the phone's standard interface.

Swiping from the bottom brings up application-specific menus, very much like what you'd see on a Windows 8 or Windows RT tablet. For example, if the app-specific menu is activated from the photo gallery app, you get options to edit and share photos:

Menus will also allow users to access certain system settings without leaving applications. For example, in the photo app you may want to adjust the brightness without having to navigate to a different part of the operating system.

"On other systems, you have to go from the application to the home screen to the settings menu, make the adjustment, and then go back into the application," Collins said. "This is a very simple, quick way to allow users to adjust settings without making the user navigate away from the application they're using."

Swiping from the right lets you switch from one open application to another, in the same way an iPad user can switch applications with a four-finger swipe. Swiping from the top in Ubuntu reveals a notification area with parts that you can scroll through by moving your finger from right to left, similar to the Ribbon interface in Microsoft Office.

A People application on Ubuntu looks similar to the People application in Windows Phone and Windows 8, with contacts being integrated with social networks such as Facebook:

Ubuntu for phones has native applications, but also relies heavily on Web apps that have hooks into the operating system. The browser Ubuntu built for these Web apps use WebKit and the V8 JavaScript engine.

Users will be able to customize what notifications they see on their home screens and what's in their Launcher bar, but the main customization options seem geared toward phone manufacturers. Carriers and hardware makers will be able to put their own applications and services front and center, which doesn't sound appealing but hopefully won't be too obnoxious in practice.

The biggest challenge for Canonical may be convincing carriers and phone makers to sell Ubuntu phones and put some marketing muscle behind them. The company also must still build out the rest of the phone's core experience. It is functional enough today to make phone calls, send text messages, use the camera, and perform other core tasks, Ubuntu community manager Jono Bacon said. Still on the to-do list is a more functional address book, media players, Exchange Active Sync support for mail and calendar, and a better Ubuntu Software Centre (the app store).

You may recall that certain Ubuntu phones will become full Ubuntu PCs when docked with a monitor, mouse, and keyboard. Collins said Canonical is testing this internally and that the software is ready to go, but the company isn't ready to show a docked Ubuntu phone just yet. The Galaxy Nexus doesn't quite meet the hardware requirements to run in docked mode.

"We haven't got the hardware available for public demo just yet, because we've just focused on showing what we want the phone OS to be," Collins said. "It's something that's straightforward for us to enable once we have the hardware."

Canonical was also showing Ubuntu for Android today. Whereas Ubuntu phones will be Ubuntu on both the phone and desktop, Ubuntu for Android turns a standard Android phone into an Ubuntu PC when docked. Using Ubuntu for Android, Collins showed us a telephony application on Ubuntu that can access the Android address book. This is a Samsung Galaxy S3, docked and running Ubuntu on the desktop:

Like the Ubuntu phone OS, the source code for Ubuntu for Android is not yet available. "We don't want users to install it on hardware that we're not sure it can support," Collins said, a statement quite similar to the excuse Google has given for delaying release of Android source code. Canonical officials have said Ubuntu phone development will (eventually) involve the community more than Android's does, however, following a model similar to the Ubuntu desktop code.

Although Canonical is still working on Ubuntu for Android because of Android's dominant market presence, in the long run it hopes to convince users that Ubuntu is the best choice for both phones and desktops.

Promoted Comments

Whenever someone says that a demo is Hands-Off because "they know the experience better" it worries me. It usually means that it's so idiosyncratic that normal users will be utterly confused on how to use it. Or it could mean that there are bits of it so broken they don't want people stumbling across them because they're embarrassing.

141 Reader Comments

As cool as this looks, I'm not sure who decided "hey, you know what the smartphone market needs? Another platform! That's a good idea!"

Ubuntu for Android was a project I was certainly excited about, and while I could see the argument for Android and iOS slowly hitting their critical point, I can't see this getting off the ground.

Perhaps it could be a third option for people who want something different on their Android-based smartphones in the same way Windows OEM computer customers choose to use Linux instead of Windows and install it themselves.

I m a bit disappointed to see an iOS style grid system. I feel its one of those systems that could still stand an improvement. I hope the grid icons have some sort of life to them instead of just being... shortcuts. This would be something that could be carried back over to the desktop OS.

It's nice how it is a blend of the OS's but I am not convinced yet that its the best blend. I guess this will end up an enthusiast hacker OS for phones and little more when all is said and done unless they can make some big gains in emerging markets which they could stand a good chance of doing.

it will be interesting. I applaud the amounts of choice we seem to be getting with cell phone OS's but I also echo the other commenter's concerns.

The image labelled calendar, is the photo gallery. You swipe in from the top edge to access system settings without leaving the application, not the application specific menu at the bottom, the screenshot at the top of the article is of the info-art lock screen, not a twitter notification. You can't even interact with the lock screen!

This is blowing my mind --

EDIT: Also, that garbage about the home screen just being a grid like iOS. It is a collection of roughly 5 different scopes, each taking up a tab. You swipe horizontally between these tabs. I'm relatively sure that the photo of the people app is actually just one of the home screen tabs, known as scopes. Notice how it isn't a grid? There are others.

The image labelled calendar, is the photo gallery. You swipe in from the top edge to access system settings without leaving the application, not the application specific menu at the bottom, the screenshot at the top of the article is of the info-art lock screen, not a twitter notification. You can't even interact with the lock screen!

You can interact with the lock screen by swiping in from the left to open the Launcher, the Ubuntu guy showed me. If you look closely you'll see it says '14 tweets received." That's a notification on the lock screen.

The image labelled calendar, is the photo gallery. You swipe in from the top edge to access system settings without leaving the application, not the application specific menu at the bottom, the screenshot at the top of the article is of the info-art lock screen, not a twitter notification. You can't even interact with the lock screen!

You can interact with the lock screen by swiping in from the left to open the Launcher, the Ubuntu guy showed me. If you look closely you'll see it says '14 tweets received." That's a notification on the lock screen.

I think you're right on "calendar" being a mislabeling on my part.

No, you can't. That's a system wide gesture, that the lock screen has no bearing on whether it happens or not. I actually watched a hands on video earlier where someone asked if you could interact with it and they said "No, it is just art" and demonstrated by clicking on the number of tweets. Notifications are in the pull down, not the lock screen.

The image labelled calendar, is the photo gallery. You swipe in from the top edge to access system settings without leaving the application, not the application specific menu at the bottom, the screenshot at the top of the article is of the info-art lock screen, not a twitter notification. You can't even interact with the lock screen!

You can interact with the lock screen by swiping in from the left to open the Launcher, the Ubuntu guy showed me. If you look closely you'll see it says '14 tweets received." That's a notification on the lock screen.

I think you're right on "calendar" being a mislabeling on my part.

No, you can't. That's a system wide gesture, that the lock screen has no bearing on whether it happens or not. I actually watched a hands on video earlier where someone asked if you could interact with it and they said "No, it is just art" and demonstrated by clicking on the number of tweets. Notifications are in the pull down, not the lock screen.

Richard Collins specifically told me that they are notifications on the lock screen (or "welcome screen" as they call it.) It can be adapted to show calls or e-mails, etc., instead of tweets. If a thing on the lock screen saying "14 tweets received" is just art and doesn't actually refer to anything happening on the phone, that would be pretty silly.

There are also notifications in the pull down which are more extensive. The notifications on the lock screen are less extensive, but you are wrong to say they do not exist. Granted, I wasn't allowed to hold the phone but I saw it with my own eyes and had Collins tell me what he was showing me :-p

When I first saw that Canonical was pursuing this, I thought it was pretty cool. I mean, is that a Linux in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? Besides, what's the worst they could do? Put Unity on there instead of figuring out a more suited DE?

But, then I see that pic of the launcher. *headshake*

I know some people like it, but I despise Unity. Even the whole Amazon lens thing is secondary to my initial displeasure at that DE. It's second worst only to Metro IMHO. Seeing it live on the phone is disappointing.

"On other systems, you have to go from the application to the home screen to the settings menu, make the adjustment, and then go back into the application," Collins said. "This is a very simple, quick way to allow users to adjust settings without making the user navigate away from the application they're using."

While Ubuntu's implementation seems slightly more elegant, isn't this baked into Android 4.2? And, for that matter, I've had that feature on phones I've used since December 2011 through various ROMs... Granted, I'm glad to see it there, since it's one of those features that is really convenient, but it seems a bit much to imply this is something new.

The image labelled calendar, is the photo gallery. You swipe in from the top edge to access system settings without leaving the application, not the application specific menu at the bottom, the screenshot at the top of the article is of the info-art lock screen, not a twitter notification. You can't even interact with the lock screen!

You can interact with the lock screen by swiping in from the left to open the Launcher, the Ubuntu guy showed me. If you look closely you'll see it says '14 tweets received." That's a notification on the lock screen.

I think you're right on "calendar" being a mislabeling on my part.

No, you can't. That's a system wide gesture, that the lock screen has no bearing on whether it happens or not. I actually watched a hands on video earlier where someone asked if you could interact with it and they said "No, it is just art" and demonstrated by clicking on the number of tweets. Notifications are in the pull down, not the lock screen.

Richard Collins specifically told me that they are notifications on the lock screen (or "welcome screen" as they call it.) It can be adapted to show calls or e-mails, etc., instead of tweets. If a thing on the lock screen saying "14 tweets received" is just art and doesn't actually refer to anything happening on the phone, that would be pretty silly.

There are also notifications in the pull down which are more extensive. The notifications on the lock screen are less extensive, but you are wrong to say they do not exist. Granted, I wasn't allowed to hold the phone but I saw it with my own eyes and had Collins tell me what he was showing me :-p

I hate to argue with a writer from Ars, but I've studied this extensively.

Very cool. I am concerned that they may take a closed development route, something that I would hate to see as I think this would be very cool if it was open development as a cohesive community could emerge rather than android's 2 tiers, Google and Friends, then the Mod Community.

The image labelled calendar, is the photo gallery. You swipe in from the top edge to access system settings without leaving the application, not the application specific menu at the bottom, the screenshot at the top of the article is of the info-art lock screen, not a twitter notification. You can't even interact with the lock screen!

You can interact with the lock screen by swiping in from the left to open the Launcher, the Ubuntu guy showed me. If you look closely you'll see it says '14 tweets received." That's a notification on the lock screen.

I think you're right on "calendar" being a mislabeling on my part.

No, you can't. That's a system wide gesture, that the lock screen has no bearing on whether it happens or not. I actually watched a hands on video earlier where someone asked if you could interact with it and they said "No, it is just art" and demonstrated by clicking on the number of tweets. Notifications are in the pull down, not the lock screen.

Richard Collins specifically told me that they are notifications on the lock screen (or "welcome screen" as they call it.) It can be adapted to show calls or e-mails, etc., instead of tweets. If a thing on the lock screen saying "14 tweets received" is just art and doesn't actually refer to anything happening on the phone, that would be pretty silly.

There are also notifications in the pull down which are more extensive. The notifications on the lock screen are less extensive, but you are wrong to say they do not exist. Granted, I wasn't allowed to hold the phone but I saw it with my own eyes and had Collins tell me what he was showing me :-p

I hate to argue with a writer from Ars, but I've studied this extensively.

He says it's art, yes, but it is art that shows you information about what's happening on the phone. Those are notifications, because they notify you of something. I know that the notifications on the lock screen are not interactive notifications that you can click on (like the ones from the pull-down menu), Collins explained that to me. But if they notify you of something, are they not notifications? What else should I call them?

I don't understand what we are arguing about at this point.

Edit: Just noticed your edit. Again, how is "information" about messages, tweets, etc. not a "notification"?

I've never seen it before in my life, and suddenly Are uses it in numerous headlines across the span of a couple days. What does it add? How does it make any sense? "Which" is typically a relative pronoun used to refer to something else. So "what" in which? "The situation" in which? "The time" in which? It sounds like a writer trying to be cute.

While your analysis is correct, that usage has existed for a long time. It's synonymous with "Where" and works off of the same principles that allow a person to start sentences with "Because" or "And." The pronoun is referring to the article itself, so expanded usage would see "The article in which..."

I've never seen it before in my life, and suddenly Are uses it in numerous headlines across the span of a couple days. What does it add? ...

It's the sort of tortured phrasing you might come across in a fantasy novel. The point being, that the demo is also just a fantasy, or they wouldn't be so keen about keeping a journalist from making even the most mundane of interactions. JPG series, Youtube, or (pretty exciting for Linux actually) Powerpoint?

I've never seen it before in my life, and suddenly Are uses it in numerous headlines across the span of a couple days. What does it add? How does it make any sense? "Which" is typically a relative pronoun used to refer to something else. So "what" in which? "The situation" in which? "The time" in which? It sounds like a writer trying to be cute.

The reason it isn't a notification is because that information will appear regardless of whether something new has happened. If you've received 59 tweets this month, it doesn't mean there's another one waiting. I don't often criticize an article in depth directly on here, but when I do, it is not done lightly. You're too busy envisioning some upset petty poster here to actually watch some hands on videos of Ubuntu Phone OS and then turn a critical eye to your own article. It is factually inaccurate in several locations, even still. I know CES is hectic, but it doesn't mean inaccuracy should be any better received when there are numerous sources describing a completely different phone os than we hear about here.

If it were inaccurate, I would fix it, as I have done in cases when there really was something that was inaccurate. But it's correct, I've double- and triple-checked since you raised this concern. I even listened to my interview with Richard Collins again, which I recorded, to ensure that the lock screen shows notifications that can be customized by the user. I have taken your comments seriously and made sure that nothing is incorrect. I have spent extra time on this to make sure it is accurate, and it turns out it was accurate all along.

You seem to be arguing about the definition of "notification," which hardly seems worth it. If it notifies you of something, it's a notification in my book.

When i first heard the term "Smart Phone" over a decade ago, this is what I had in mind. When i finally got one I was so disappointed. If this OS doesn't take off I hope the others will at least come up with a similar idea. This is the first smart phone to do what The science articles 10 years ago said they would do; Have the potential to replace our laptops.

For those people who are upset about another platform WELL AT LEAST THIS ONE ACTUALLY HAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM THE REST. AT LEAST ITS NOT ANOTHER ME TOO OS

Whenever someone says that a demo is Hands-Off because "they know the experience better" it worries me. It usually means that it's so idiosyncratic that normal users will be utterly confused on how to use it. Or it could mean that there are bits of it so broken they don't want people stumbling across them because they're embarrassing.

I've never seen it before in my life, and suddenly Are uses it in numerous headlines across the span of a couple days. What does it add? How does it make any sense? "Which" is typically a relative pronoun used to refer to something else. So "what" in which? "The situation" in which? "The time" in which? It sounds like a writer trying to be cute.

I've seen it quite a lot. There's a WWII British film called "In Which We Serve".

It's a bit of a poetic use, but no different from any other situation where in English it's acceptable to omit parts of a sentence.

For example, if I were to ask "Are you being a pedant?" it would be acceptable to answer "Yes.". Your response would lack a subject and predicate, which otherwise would make it an improper statement. However, English allows it to be understood that you mean "Yes, I am being a pedant."

Similarly, in this case, it's acceptable to assume the reader will know that the title means "The situation in which an Ars Technica writer is allowed to see, but not touch, an Ubuntu phone.".